Programming question

[multiman]

Hello All,
Brief description...40 is knocking on my door, been exercising the past 5 years but only found SS about a month and a half ago and the light bulb clicked.

Weight- 174ish have gained 12 lbs since start
Current worksets are
squat- 225
BP- 170
Press- 100
DL- 285

My issue is recovery, I don't think its my diet, I eat at 5-6 good meals a day (lots of animal/vegetable/ less carbs) and drink a few glasses of lactade throughout the day. I only get 5-6 hrs sleep a night and work 60+ hrs a week 6 days a week, family etc..This is the problem but my schedule is a bit weird..I start work around 2 a.m.

Question.
When I add weight is it feasable to cut the reps back initally and work up to 3 set of 5? will that cause enough disruption in homeostasis to cause to adaption?
Am I thinking of this reasonably or is there a better way? I feel I can keep LP up but slow it down a bit.

Example..Monday I squatted 225x3x3, today i'm going for 225x4x3 then friday try 225x5x3.

I have also read on this site where people do 5 sets of 3 to get to 15 reps, is that a better alternative.

If i had tried for 225x5x3 I would have failed monday but I did 3 sets succesfully.
I understand IM NOT DOING THE PROGRAM but I'm making gains and enjoy making PRs.

Thank You
David

[Gwyn Brookes]

I think if you can make this work for you there is no reason not to do it. Should you experiment and find that it is not working for you, you could try changing your programming so that you only make gains twice a week and the middle day you program a light, or recovery, day - folks around here refer to this as advanced novice programming. The next level of complexity would simply be to switch to an intermediate program where you only disrupt homeostasis once a week, recovery day in the middle of the week, then you have your PR day at the end of the week. Variants of the Texas Method, Starr 5x5, Madcows, etc.

I have been lifting under non-optimal conditions for a few years and I've found that the only way to "know" whether my programming is working for me, is to experiment and find out whether I can make gains. Good luck!

[multiman]

Makes sense, thank you, does a "light" day mean lower weight and more reps/sets?

[Gwyn Brookes]

For a more detailed explanation please refer to PPST. Or search "Advanced Novice" programming on these boards. Cheers!

[multiman]

I just started reading PPST...suppose ill read ahead. Thank you

[osv2]

Why don't you do it like it is written in the program instead? Suppose you did 225x5х3. Next time you set 230 and shoot for 5 reps, stopping on technical failure. If you get 5х3, then add another 5lb next session, if not, stay with the same weight. If you get something like 5,4,2, then also rest more between sets next time.

[pkelly54]

Besides Gwynn's good advice, consider increasing the rest time between sets. I find as the weight gets heavier, a longer rest time can result in sets of 5 being made, where failure is the result with the same weight with shorter rest time. I used to think 3 minutes rest between squat sets was the recommended period. I discovered better performance with 5 to 6 minutes rest between sets. I recently read a post where Ripp stated some lifters may rest 10 minutes or more between heavy squat sets. Ripp mentioned heavy weight as being over 300 pounds, your lifts are getting close to that weight. I also found the length of rest period has a significant effect on overhead press performance.

I think 5-6 hours sleep a night is not enough. We make time for what we consider important. If we are serious about our weight training commitments, we increase the importance of sleep. Certainly family and work have priority, but if you have a choice between TV and Sleep, choose sleep.